At The Mori Museum: 3D-Printed Sushi & Other Glimpses Of The Future
[image error]
The Mori Museum’s current exhibit, Future and the Arts: AI, Robotics, Cities, Life – How Humanity Will Live Tomorrow pushes all my favorite buttons: food, fashion & WTF!
It’s a satisfyingly huge show, with installations ranging from utopian plans that harness cutting-edge tech, to darker commentary on how we’ll use technology to evolve in a world that’s not entirely changing for the better.
Here are my favorites:
[image error]
This captivating concept (by the Dentsu team) is called “Sushi Singularity,” which imagines a machine that can 3D-print exquisite bites of food…
[image error]
…and structures them in new and exciting forms and textures (I mean if you’re putting together the building blocks anyway – why not? It’s like, Molecular Gastronomy 10.0!)
[image error]
They imagine a computer-driven design process that matches traditional flavors with new and exciting architectures, like (from left to right): Cell-cultured tuna, Powdered, sintered uni, Squid castle, Negative stiffness honeycomb octopus, Oze tick cucumber, Anisotropic stiffness steamed shrimp, Micro pillar eel, and (the final soup course) Dashi soup universe…
[image error]
The sushi would be assembled by a combination of 3D printing, laser carving…
[image error]
and vat-grown protein techniques…
[image error]
…to produce perfectly tasty bites on demand
They even made a promo video for “Sushi Singularity,” the sushi restaurant of the future!
But crazy food wasn’t the only thing artists have ideas about. Fashion and design took a page from the biology notebook too.
[image error]
These dresses are laser-cut designs based on systems of the body. From left to right, the lungs, the nervous system, ligaments & tendons (Artist: Amy Karle)
[image error]
And this stool was grown from…mushrooms (Artist: Klarenbeek & Dros)
[image error]
This elaborate Noh costume was woven entirely from silk made by genetically-altered silkworms, which produce fibers that glow in the dark (Artist: Another Farm)
This slightly creepier comment on global warming suggests genetic modifications to babies that would adapt future workers to function better in a world that’s much hotter than it is today.
[image error]
Called “Thermal Epidermalplasty” this piece posits that extra skin on the head might dissipate heat more efficiently (Artist: Agi Haines)
There are tons more thought-provoking and conversation-sparking pieces, but (how well you know me!) the one I spent the most time with was this towering 2001-ish monolith, with its hypnotic digital skin.
Go see this show, if you have a chance. Even at ¥1800 a pop, it’s worth it.
•
Open: Every day, from November 19 (2019) – March 29 (2020)
Hours: 10:00 – 22:00
Admission: Adult – ¥1800; Student (High school-university) ¥1200; Child (4+) ¥600
•
Are you as delighted by all things Japan as I am? Would you like to find more posts like this spicing up your email from time to time?
[image error]
Subscribe to Only In Japan, and I’ll send you all the astounding, thought-provoking, conversation-starting Japan swaglets, the minute I post them.
It’s easy: Scroll down to the subscribe button, enter your email, and push the button. You can unsubscribe at any time, of course, and I promise: no ads and no sharing of your information EVER.
